By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — After sweeping VCU the previous weekend and winning the first two games of its series against UMass, the St. Bonaventure baseball team had just about kept their hopes for a postseason berth alive.
And through four innings of their series finale against the Minutemen, the Bonnies looked likely to keep those dreams alive for at least another day.
Unfortunately, over the last five innings, they saw their lead slowly chipped away until a three-run ninth inning put the visitors over the top, handing Bona a 9-8 loss in its final home game of the season.
“It’s tough, you want to give your seniors an opportunity, and I actually thought it played out perfect, starting all of our seniors before subbing some of our superstar players in for them, giving them some curtain calls, so I felt like we played the whole day right,” St. Bonaventure baseball coach Jason Rathbun said. “Unfortunately, UMass found a way to take a lead there in the ninth. I feel bad for these seniors, but it doesn’t take away what they’ve done the last five games before this, and the run they went on here towards the end. I’m super proud of them.”
And while the final game between Bona and UMass came down to the wire, the first two of the series were taken easily by the hosts, as they won the opening game 10-1 — behind a nine-inning performance on the mound by Chance Moore — and the second game 10-5.
Highlighting the Bona performances in games one and two of the series was the offense, which managed to score more runs than the number of hits the Minutemen could come up with in that span.
And in a season in which Rathbun’s Bonnies faced a significant amount of adversity, that type of fight, with their season on the line, is exactly what he wanted to see as he and his coaching staff continue to shape the program.
“That’s the culture that we’re trying to build here,” Rathbun said. “And I think this group defines that. I’m excited to go to battle with them one more time at Dayton next weekend, which is a rival of ours, and they’re fighting for the playoffs. So, maybe we can go out there and do our thing and keep adding a couple more wins.”
St. Bonaventure’s Chris Hoalcraft (2) swings at a pitch against UMass. (Spencer Bates)
But the offense didn’t just start showing up against UMass. Rathbun has previously noted how their bats were arguably the best aspect of their team this season. And over the last two series, that can be seen as the Bonnies have scored 10 or more runs in five of their last six games, the eight runs they scored in the UMass series finale being the only exception.
“We just got great hitters, they’ve been producing all year, and these last six games, they’ve been on fire,” Rathbun said. “I think we’ve scored over 10 runs the last five games, until today. They’re a great group. The offense is strong and I couldn’t ask for any more.”
The bats remaining hot and carrying over from the VCU series last weekend was a welcome sight for the coaching staff and over 1,400 Bona fans that showed up over the course of the team’s final home stand of the year. But what was just as pleasing to see, according to Rathbun, was the improved pitching that his team got in this series compared to what they got against VCU.
Against the Rams, Bona gave up 35 runs over the course of the series. Against the Minutemen, it was able to cut that number to 15.
“I think that shows a sign of development,” Rathbun said. “(The pitching staff has) got better as the year went on. … Unfortunately, (UMass) got a couple hits and were able to chase (Luke Roggenburk) from the game. Roggs has thrown the most innings for us out of anybody on this team in his career. So, it was tough for him to go out that way, but it’s not over. We still got another weekend.”
And although Roggenburk, a senior, was credited with the loss at the end of the day, his efforts throughout the season, and throughout his career, as Rathbun noted, have been nothing short of spectacular.
Rathbun shared that same sentiment for each of the 13 seniors set to graduate after this season.
“I think the seniors provided great leadership for the younger guys that we brought in,” Rathbun said. “Looking forward, we’ve got some young guys to build around. This year, we’re starting a sophomore at catcher. We’re starting Gavin (Constantine) at short as a sophomore, we got Jayce (Tharnish) in center, who’s a sophomore, Conner Vercollone in right, who’s a sophomore, Chris Hoalcraft, playing third, he’s a junior. So, there’s five guys that are coming back that were in major roles for us in our lineup. We got some good arms coming back, David James and a few other guys that we can build on. So, the program’s in great shape. I think we’re on the way up. If we grab another win, we will have won more games than we won last year, and that’s what we want to do. We want to keep getting better every year.”
The St. Bonaventure baseball team honored its 13 seniors set to graduate after its final home game on May 11. Back row (from left): Ryan Davis, Harrison Kaufman, Robert Mannino, Luke Roggenburk, Kade Walker, Chance Moore and Gabe Watts. Front row: David Marshall Jr., Paul Vossen, Mike Gunning, Jack Pawlowicz, Cam Demos and Morgan Little. (Spencer Bates)
The Bonnies’ first chance to get that win will come on May 13 at 3 p.m. when they are set to face Niagara on the road.
And now, staring down the final four games of the season, Rathbun admitted the message he will be delivering to his team will be one encouraging his players to savor the moment.
“Have fun, you know, enjoy the moment,” Rathbun said. “Enjoy the last times they have together, the last bus ride. We’re on the road more than any program here at this college. So, we’ve had a lot of special times together. And we got one more road trip.”
